The hits keep coming for the Arizona Cardinals, a team that now has three wins this season after not reaching that total until Week 13 against the Steelers last season.
Outside linebacker Dennis Gardeck is the latest player headed to injured reserve after suffering a torn ACL in Monday night’s win over the Chargers.
Gardeck is the second player lost for the year after the start of the season whose current contract expires in March. The other was right guard Will Hernandez. There’s never a good time for a season-ending injury, but it’s worse when it creates uncertainty in the offseason.
On defense, Gardeck joins defensive linemen Justin Jones and Bilal Nichols, who also are done for the year with injuries that occurred after the start of the season.
“It’s a part of the game, but it’s tough to swallow at times,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said earlier this week. “Obviously we know what he puts into the game and to his craft at being a pro and the teammate that he is. That’s going to hurt.
“It really doesn’t matter if it’s one or however many guys. Anybody that’s on your team, you feel terrible for.”
Said defensive coordinator Nick Rallis on Tuesday, “Great player. It always hurts to lose a guy like that; an impact player. He’s a huge leader for us. You lose multiple things with that. You lose the player, you lose the guy to a degree. He’s around, so he still leads, but he is a resilient guy. I talked to him today and last night about what he does on the field doesn’t define what makes him great. It’s who he is what makes him great.
“He’s going to attack what he has to do going forward the same way that he attacked playing, the way he attacks everything in life. That’s why he’s had the success that he’s had. It hurts and I know he’s probably hurt, but he’s got a positive attitude right now and he’ll be good.”
Promising outside linebacker BJ Ojulari suffered a torn ACL early in training camp, so now this becomes another hill to climb for the team’s pass rush.
Entering a short week after Monday night’s game, Gannon said, “We’re going to figure out the plan for the best way to play Miami. It’ll look a little different, I’m sure, this week. We’re in the stages of that right now, but guys will step up and they’ll be ready to go.”
After noting what Gardeck does well, Rallis also expressed confidence in the rest of the unit. Of course, that’s what coaches have to say. You’ll never hear a coach say after an injury, “We’re in trouble. No way can anyone else replace him.”
Rallis did say of Gardeck, “He plays a lot of roles for us. As a rusher, as a cover guy. Sneaky run defender despite his size. So guys have got to step up and be able to go out there and make plays; those plays that he was making for us. We really feel good about that entire room being able to step in and guys have to be able to go out there and execute at a high level and fill that role.”
There will likely be increased snaps for Jesse Luketa and Julian Okwara and perhaps rookie Xavier Thomas who has been off the radar screen this month.
“I want multiple guys out there. I think it’s best when you’re rushing fresh, I think it’s best when you’re playing the run fresh,” Rallis said.
Thomas could be the wild card. He experienced growing pains after being selected in the fifth round of the draft, but started to flash during training camp and preseason games. At one point, Rallis said, “He’s really started to rip lately, which he’s got a skillset to do so. That’s one thing I really loved about him coming out. It’s like you could see the speed with this guy off the edge and he’s shown that he’s gotta continue to improve with everything.
“Really hone in on those pass-rush skills, his cover drops in the run game, so I wanna see the complete game. I wanna see a continual progression of improving in every aspect of his game.”
That improvement clearly didn’t happen.
After playing 29 and 40 percent of the snaps in the first two games of the season, that number dropped to 19 and 10 in the next two weeks, which was followed by the last three games on the inactive list.
Now, asked if he envisions a big opportunity for Thomas, Gannon said, “I do. You’ve seen a couple of guys this year get some opportunities and maximize some opportunities. Roles change with production. That’s one of the things that goes into your role is production.”
Concluded Rallis, “He’s very good with his execution and the time he puts in to study. I want him to continue to go out there and improve those practice reps and when his number’s called, he’s going to be ready to roll and he’s got to go out there and make plays just like everybody else and execute at a high level.”
Consider that challenge made.
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